Infosys: Infosys releases 11,000 employees due to automation: Key … – Economic Times

NEW DELHI: Infosys on Saturday said the company's board has no differences with the promoters and the so-called problems were media creation. The company held its 36th annual general meeting in Bangalore on Saturday.

Here are the key takeways:

Compensation to key personnel: In its AGM, a company spokesperson said that the IT major was aware of the fact that the compensation gap between the top management and employees has widened. The spokesperson recognized that the company's communication on compensation could have been better. To address that, it has restructured compensation to stock-based rewards, it said. Here's a look a remuneration of key personnals at Infosys:

Rising protectionism: In a letter to shareholders, CEO Vishal Sikka said that FY17 brought with it environmental challenges such as rising protectionism, accelerating commoditization, elevated client expectations and new competition.

"Internally, we had challenges to bring stability to our consulting business and growth to our Finacle and BPO businesses. But amidst all of this, it behoves us to stay focused on our longer-term mission to drive rapid growth in software-led offerings, to capture demand in newer service lines and to renew our core services a mission to deliver consistent, profitable growth for the benefit of all our stakeholders," Sikka said.

Automation impact: The company said that more than 11,000 jobs have been released due to automation. Revenue per full-tie employee (FTE) increased by 1.2 per cent as a result of automation, utilisation and productivity improvements, the company said.

"It is a clear demonstration of how software is going to play a crucial role in our business model," it said.

No differences with promoters: The board's relationship with founders is subject of inaccurate media reports, the company said. The company's Executive Chairman R Seshasayee said that when comments are made by founders, it is considered more seriously and respectfully. Executive leadership compensation dominated the narrative on governance, it said.

Cash balance: The IT major said it was sitting on Rs 12,222 crore in cash and cash equivalent as of March 31, 2017. This was against Rs 24,276 crore of cash it was sitting on at the end fo FY16. Deposits with institutions stood at Rs 6,931 crore as of March 31, compared with Rs 4,900 crore in the year-ago period.

Investor corner: Infosys said that its board has identified an amount of up to Rs 13,000 crore or $2 billion to be paid out to shareholders during FY18. This would be done by the way of dividend and/or buybacks which will be decided later.

Dividend declaration: Infosys has declared a final dividend of Rs 14.75 per share for FY17. This would result in a cash outflow of appromimately Rs 4,061 crore - excluding dividend paid on treasury shares - inlusive of corporate dividend tax.

R Seshasayee to retire in May 2018: Seshasayee said it will be his last AGM before he retires next year in May and plans a smooth transition to his successor.

"Finally, as this will be my last AGM, before I retire upon reaching the age of 70 in May 2018... During the remaining part of my tenure, I would be committed to further enhancing governance standards, improving shareholder value and planning a smooth transition to my successor," he said in his speech at the 36th AGM of Infosys.

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Infosys: Infosys releases 11,000 employees due to automation: Key ... - Economic Times